Movies: Boston Jewish Film Festival begins next week

Jody Feinberg The Patriot Ledger

Saturday

Nov 3, 2018 at 4:16 AM

In a time when people are divided by issues of identity, the Boston Jewish Film Festival offers inspiring stories of people who have multi-faceted identities and close connections with others of different races and religions.

Artistic director Ariana Cohen-Halberstam didn’t set out to select films on this theme, but it emerged as she received submissions and viewed films at festivals around the world.

“It’s a mini theme,” she said. “It’s an important message to look beyond our communities and surroundings and create bridges. It’s something that’s been on my mind, and it’s something that filmmakers are thinking about too.”

The 30th Boston Jewish Film Festival offers 41 documentary, feature and short films from Nov. 7-19 in 12 Boston and suburban locations, and many are followed by conversations with directors and a number are accompanied by music performances. About 11,000 people are expected to attend. The festival opens with “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me,” a revealing portrait of a spectacularly talented black and Jewish performer who defied restrictions on African-Americans in both his professional and personal life and expanded the Jewish identity. Director Sam Pollard, who has co-produced award winning films with Spike Lee, will participate in a post-film discussion.

“We think of our opening film as setting the tone for the festival,” Cohen-Halberstam said. “It’s important to recognize that Jews don’t just look like European Jews and to hear stories that hopefully inspire audiences.”

Other films that expand perceptions are “Shalom Bollywood,” a documentary about Jewish women who lived in India and were the stars of Bollywood, when film roles were considered immodest for Hindus and Muslims, and "Remember Bagdad," the story of a Jewish Iraqi exile who returns to the city he once loved in a first step toward reestablishing a Jewish community in a place where Jews, Muslims and Christians lived peacefully until World War II.

The films will be shown at the MFA, ICA, Brattle and Somerville Theaters, and locations in Arlington, Brookline, Foxboro, Maynard, Natick and Newton. In Foxboro, “The Hero” is a Dutch thriller based on a bestselling novel about a family targeted with strange, violent anti-Semitic acts and the revelation of the father's dark past.

Several films are the stories of unlikely pairings. In the documentary “Satan and Adam,” Adam Gussow and Sterling Magee are a young Jewish harmonica player and a once famous elderly African-American blues guitarist, who meet in Harlem and despite their differences become a successful duo and remain friends for two decades. In “In Our Son’s Name,” Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez, an interfaith couple and the parents of 911 victim Greg Rodriguez, try to find an alternative to hate and violence through their friendship with Aicha el Wafi, the Muslim mother of 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Gussow and The Rodriguez’s will participated in discussions after the screenings.

“I didn’t know these stories, but they were high profile at the time for people who were following these stories,” Cohen-Halberstam said. “They were not seeking fame, but following their heart.”

“Find Your Tribe” is a program of short films about people who find community in unusual ways, such as the elderly Jewish Holocaust survivor who sings in a death metal band in "Death Metal Grandma." And the feature film “Working Woman,” is a particularly timely story about a woman who must figure out how to resist sexual advances from her boss without losing the job her family badly needs.

“I walked out stunned, it was so real,” said Cohen-Halberstam, who saw it at the Jerusalem Film Festival. “It’s beautifully shot and has some of Israel’s top actors.”

Cohen-Halberstam recently secured the feature film “Redemption” for the closing film. It’s the story of a Tel Aviv rock star who had a falling out with his band mates when he became Ultraorthodox. When he needs money to get treatment for his seriously ill daughter, the band mates come together to form a band to play at Orthodox weddings.

“I wanted it to be the right film, and I was really eager to get this one,” she said. “You don’t often see people who are ultra religious and secular hanging out together, and this is a beautiful film about friendship.”

She’s also excited that her organization now is called Boston Jewish Film, a rebranding that reflects its expansion over 30 years into a year-round presenter of films. In addition to the Boston Jewish Film Festival, it runs Reelabilities, a festival about disabilities; Boston Jewish Film Studio, which brings films and film making workshops into schools; and 360, which presents Jewish related films throughout the year. And this February, it presents the first Israeli Film Festival.

“There’s an interesting thing that’s happening,” she said. “Even though films have become more accessible to people on various platforms and they can watch from home, they still want to come to the theater and be in a community space and part of the conversation.”

Reach Jody Feinberg at jfeinberg@patriotledger.com. Follow her on Twitter@JodyF_Ledger.